US seaborne exports to China of the goods which China has imposed tariffs on since the start of the trade war fell by 37.6% in the first 11 months of 2019 (11M 2019) compared to the same period of 2017, the last full year unaffected by the trade war.

At the 5th session of IMO Sub-Committee on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue (NCSR) – good progress was made to improve the safety of navigation; and to reduce the workload and stress level of the bridge team

US seaborne coal exports are up 57% in total volume and 61% in terms of tonne-miles for the first five months of 2017 compared to the same period last year. If US coal exports remain high throughout 2017 it will have a solid effect on the global seaborne coal trade and support the overall improvement in the dry bulk shipping industry.

In 2019, global oil demand is forecast to pass the symbolic 100 million barrels per day threshold (International Energy Agency). Developing countries account for almost all of the growth and Asia dominate.
BIMCO stated in its forecast for 2017, that the tanker demand growth for 2017 is expected to come predominantly from the greater Asia region, led by China. China has met expectations by ramping up its import of seaborne crude oil by 13% for the first nine months of 2017 compared to the same period last year. As China is importing crude oil from further afield in 2017 than in 2016, the tonne miles generated has surged 18%.

BARGEHIRE is a bareboat charter party specifically designed for unmanned, non-self-propelled seagoing barges. It is a lease agreement whereby the charterer obtains possession and full control of the barge along with the legal and financial responsibility for it. The charterer generally pays for operating expenses such as maintenance and repairs but, unlike bareboat chartered ships, barges are often chartered with owner’s insurances made available to the charterer.
Copyright in BARGEHIRE 2008 is held by BIMCO.

The number of orders surfacing during the past days is slightly softer compared to the weekly average activity we have been recording during the past twelve months, while the appetite for tanker vessels seems to getting stronger, with another VLCC quartet rumoured to have been ordered in S. Korea following a similar sized order placed by Navios very recently in Japan. Together with appetite for orders, the upward trend in newbuilding prices is also holding strong, particularly in the case of dry bulk and tanker vessels.
The weekly newbuilding report by Intermodal Research & Valuations feature, include newbuilding prices for dry bulk-, tanker- and gas shipping segments. Additionally, recent newbuilding orders are listed by units, type, size, yard, expected delivery date and price.

The list of newbuilding deals surfacing during the course of the past week was monopolized by tanker and dry bulk orders, with tanker contracting still ranging across a big deadweight scale, while on the bulker side we saw exclusively bigger deadweight vessels being ordered on the back of pre-agreed long term employment, a typical characteristic of similar size dry bulk orders during this year.
The weekly newbuilding report by Intermodal Research & Valuations feature, include newbuilding prices for dry bulk-, tanker- and gas shipping segments. Additionally, recent newbuilding orders are listed by units, type, size, yard, expected delivery date and price.

With the weekly number of orders surfacing once again below the average of the past twelve months, it seems that February will most probably see softer contracting activity compared to last month, while despite the weaker trend it seems that appetite for both dry bulk and tanker vessels is there. In the case of tankers and specifically VLCCs one could say that this appetite is actually increasing.
The weekly newbuilding report by Intermodal Research & Valuations feature, include newbuilding prices for dry bulk-, tanker- and gas shipping segments. Additionally, recent newbuilding orders are listed by units, type, size, yard, expected delivery date and price.